Winds of Change
by Herz von Silber
Summary: While on his way to Alpina, someone is attacked by a myserious assassain and is left in critical condition.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is experimental, so don't expect much. I welcome any reviews, mean, nice, or just plain rude. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. Thank you!**

The assassain crept into the camp at the dead of night. He slit the sentry's throat, who didn't even have time to let out a warning cry. As he reached the king's tent, one of the royal guard saw him and shouted. Immediately, chaos errupted. The assassain, realizing that he no longer held the element of surprise, immediately went for his half woken quarry. He went for the heart, but was struck across the back by a sword. His thrust was instead deflected by the king's arm. In a rapid execution of complex moves, he cut down four of his attackers. Then, he slashed at the king's chest and head, this time, not missing. Duncan grunted in pain and fell back. As he went for the jugular vien on his neck, more defenders were upon him. This time, there were more, and they were more aware. For a few moments, the assassain tried to fight them off to finish the job, but realized he was soon to be overwelmed, instead tried to escape, convinced the two critical wounds were sufficent to kill. As he fought his way through, he let out a piercing whistle. A couple of seconds later, ten bowmen sprang out from the surrounding trees and finished the remaining warriors. Meanwhile, the attacker's horse rushed out, and he mounted it.

As he rode away, abandoning his men to a certain death against the small party of knights and men at arms, felt the satisfaction of a job well done, and savored the thought of a large sum of gold.

"There you are, all better. Now, you'll need to bathe the burn daily with cool water, then let it air dry. Apply this salve and bandage it for the first five days, then let it get some air and scab over. It should be nothing but a faint scar in about two weeks."

"Thank you, Miss Lacey." said the youth. Lacey smiled.

"No need to thank me. Just be a little more careful around the forge."

"Yes, Miss Lacey," Michael replyed, head bobbing, "Of course, Miss Lacey. Now, how much shall I pay you?"

At that, she simply smiled and said, "No charge. I'm just happy to help." The boy, no more than fifteen, was about to debate that point, when the door of the inn swung open to admit a group of six young girls, all shouting up a storm.

"Help! Help! There's a man in the forest!"

"Not a man, a giant!"

"He's hurt!"

"He's dead!"

"They're all dead!"

"Help us! Help us!"

"Girls! Girls! Girls! Calm down!" said Lacey, "Now, only one of you, tell me what's going on."

The oldest of the group, probably no more than seven, said "We were out in the woods gathering berries, when Marie saw some horse prints. We told her not to follow them, but she did, so we followed her." Anna's voice grew a pitch higher. "Then, well then we found a whole bunch of men. And they were, they were all..."

"They were all dead." Finished Marie, who was only five. She was abused for the first four years of her life by her father, and was just recently taken in by her Aunt and Uncle. Unfortunately, she was still affected by it, and tended to be very quiet and reserved. Some of the older children tease her, which only serves to drive her further into her sort of depression. "One man is still alive though." It was very odd, all of the other girls where hysterical from finding the bloody battle scene, but Marie was calm. Worryingly calm.

"It's okay, it's alright." Lacey murmured comfortingly, "Just tell me, where in the woods did you find them?"

"On the southern end of town near the river." replyed Marie.

"Okay, thank you. Armonde, Leon, and Louis, come with me. Let's go investigate."

Lacey went over to the indecated area, followed by the three men, two of them carrying a stretcher. She followed the tracks and came to the small clearing, and sure enough, the ground was littered with the bodies of dead men. In the center of the gruesome scene, lay a large, muscular man, who was barely breathing. Lacey ran over to him, quickly followed by Leon and Armonde, who started to move the injured man onto the stretcher. "Hold on a minute! Let me examine him first." She looked over him, spotting a deep gash on his chest, and another on his head. After finding no broken bones, she let him be moved. "Let's bring him to the inn, but through the back. We don't want to disturb the customers."

"Are you sure Claire won't mind?" asked Louis, "She might not want this man in her Inn."

" She will let me heal him there." _If I can heal him,_ she thought to herself.

**That's all for now! Again, please tell me what you think. Even if it's bad. Or good. I like it all. Just a footnote, mainly for my sister, Louis is pronounced Looee, not Loois. Although I believe most of us already knew that.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reviewing the story, Nicholai Jones, it makes me feel happy! So now, we will continue the king's ill fated journey. Enjoy!**

The first thing he noticed was the pain. His head throbbed, and his chest burned. He tried to open his eyes, but the light in the room sent lightning bolts of pain through his head everytime he opened them, so he settled for laying with his eyes closed. A few minutes later, a door opened and someone walked softly across the floor. It was a woman, she spoke softly in a language he didn't understand. "Il ne pourrait pas même se réveiller, une blessure de tête comme cela devrait être assez pour le tuer."

He slowly cracked open one eye, but shut it immediately, as it was still too bright. He heard a sigh, then the world got considerably darker from beneath his eyelids, and when he opened his eyes again, he could keep them that way. As he looked around the room, his eyes landed on a young woman, about twenty five. Her hair was dirty blonde, and her eyes were a pale green-blue. She was pretty, he thought. Then, she noticed him looking at her, and came to the side of the bed. "Comment vous sentez-vous?"

He stared at her for a moment, then replyed "What?"

Recognizing the language, she asked again in Araluen, "How do you feel?"

Now that understood, he replyed weakly, "Painful. My head hurts." At that, she nodded and started making a drink, putting in various herbs and oils. A few minutes later, she handed him a cup and said, "Drink this, it will help the pain." After that, she pulled out more herbs and started grinding them into a fine paste. When that was done, she came over to him and started to cut away the bandages from his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Tending to you wounds. You were attacked about five days ago, remember?"

He frowned at that, thinking hard, then replyed "No, I don't."

She looked at him for a moment, then said, "That's all right, you will eventually. But for now, can you tell me your name?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, realizing he didn't know his name. He thought hard for a moment or two, then looked up at her, a little worried. "I can't remember that either." He frowned, trying to remember something, anything. When his mind came up blank, he looked up again and said, "I can't remember a thing."

The woman said, "That's all right. You do have a pretty bad head wound. You should start remembering soon enough. But for now, just focus on resting and healing. Now, if you could try to sit up for me, I need to re-bandage your chest." He slowly sat up, expecting to fall back, but found he could sit up all right. After his chest was wrapped, she laid him back against a mound of pillows so he was partially upright. She then started to unwrap his head, which had stopped throbbing. In fact, he couldn't really feel anything on his head.

"What did you give me?" he inquired, slightly worried.

"Its to numb your skin. Without it, cleaning your wounds would be a more painful experience." She smiled at him, saying "Don't worry, it will wear off in an hour or so."

After that, he simply laid there, letting her clean and bind his head, then his neck, and finally his arm. Before she left the room, she said, "My name is Lacey, by the way. I will be back in about two hours with some food for you. Stay in bed and try to get some sleep."

He nodded to himself, suddenly very drowsy. Sleep sounded good. About ten minutes later, he was asleep.

Downstairs, Lacey was talking with the innkeeper's wife, who was really the one in charge of the building. Her husband had his name on the deed, but like most men of the world, ultimately answered to his wife. "I'm surprised, I didn't expect him to wake up for at least another week, if he woke at all."

"Well, that must be a good sign. How is he?"

"He can't remember a thing, which is only to be expected. That blow to the head was a bad one, it nearly broke his skull." Gathering up dishes left behind from customers, she said, "Thank you again for letting me keep him here."

To that, she replyed "It's my pleasure. It's my way of thinking you. Not only do you help our village greatly with your care, but you also attract many customers setting up in here." Moving to take the dishes from her hands, she added, "You don't have to clean up, dear. I can take care of that."

But Lacey kept on cleaning, saying "It's really no bother. I feel it's the least I can do, seeing as you let me stay here for free. I actually find it enjoyable, though that might be a different story if I had to do it for a living."

"Allright, but how long will you be staying? Surely it will be for awhile, that man is in no condition to travel."

"Depends on how long it takes for him to heal. It should be for at least another two or three weeks."

Claire nodded, and said "Might as well send the news to the next towns on your list, they will be disapointed if you don't. Not many healers will provide their services for free."

Lacey nodded her agreement. "Yes, that is certainly true. I was thinking the same thing. What about young Aubrey? She's always wanted to travel."

Claire frowned, saying "Don't you think she's a little young? She's only sixteen, after all."

"Oh, loosen up." Lacey said, "I didn't mean alone. Do you honestly think I'd propose sending your daughter alone for her first time? I thought she could go with Louis. They seem to get along fine."

"Yes, they certainly do." Claire smiled, saying "I'm just a little protective. She's my only daughter, you know. The youngest of five, all older brothers. I do like Louis, he's a fine young man."

"Then it's settled. They can leave in a few days, tomorrow it might rain, and we want it nice and sunny for her first time seeing the country side."

**Allright, let me know what you think. **


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took me a while, but its been the week before winter break, and now its here! Yay! Anyways, here's the story.

"Wow, I just can't get over how beautiful it is out here!" exclaimed Aubrey for about the hundreth time. Louis didn't seem to mind, though. He was absolutely thrilled to be out in the country, seeing the beautiful country side, and to be with a beautiful companion. Better yet, he was alone with her. "I'm so glad Mother and Miss Lacey saw fit for me to go, Mother has been a little clingy lately, I don't see why, though."

"Maybe she's noticed you aren't a child anymore." Replied Louis. He certainly had. "But I wonder why she didn't send Pierre, or Leon, if she's so worried."

"Well, maybe she wanted someone with some skills with the sword in case anyone tries to attack." In reality, Louis had only very basic skills, but it never hurt to flatter someone. Especially when you really like that certain someone.

The ride to the next town on Lacey's roster was only a day's ride away, but the two young people weren't eager to return to normal life, and prolonged the three day trip into a four or five day trip, planning on using the weather as an excuse.

"This is a nice little spot, let's have lunch here." suggested Louis, pointing to a pretty place at the bend of a river. Liking the idea of yet another stop, Aubrey nodded her agreement and rode over to the spot. Soon, they were dining on bread, fruit and wine. Of course, they hadn't started the trip out with it, but what their elders didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Unfortunately for them, what they didn't know most definitely could.

Lurking in the trees around them was a rather nasty fellow named Herbert. He had stolen an important document and some jewels from the Baron of Whitbey fief in Araluen. While the careless baron had been napping inside his first floor office, Herbert had slipped in and stolen said document, along with some precious jewels. He didn't escape unnoticed, though, as the current ranger of the fief saw him sneaking out of the window, and would have caught him, if the baron's wife hadn't whacked him over the head with a candle holder, throwing off his aim. She had claimed to have mistaken him for the bandit himself, though how anyone one could have mixed up a ranger with the scruffy, greasy man was beyond him. Now, seeing a chance at a free and easy meal, he was planning his attack.

Stepping out of the trees now, he yelled out, "Awright, get on the ground, the both of ye!" Neither of them understood a word he said, but they did understand the slightly rusted sword in his hand, and froze, terrified. "I said DOWN!" he yelled, gesturing to the ground. Slightly comprehending what the bandit wanted now, they both got on the ground, belly down. Herbert quickly went over to where Louis was laying. In an attempt to impress Aubrey, and get them out of this dangerous situation, Louis tried to pick up his sword, but before he could even raise it, Herbert hit him over the head none too gently, preventing any future resistance. After tightly binding the two young people, he set about devouring all the food. After finishing it all, he was about to untie the two and be on his way, when a thought occurred to him. He hadn't been with a woman in quite a while. And here was a woman, a pretty woman.

Seeing the look in his eye, Aubrey understood the man's intentions, and started to cry out when he lifted her upright. "Non, non, oh s'il vous plaît, non!" Her voice gradually grew in volume and pitch. "Non, NON!" Then, out of nowhere, an arrow appeared in the bandit's thigh, causing him to drop Aubrey and swear very loudly.

"FREEZE! King's Ranger!" Again, the two Gallicans didn't understand a word spoken, but were relieved that there attacker was taken down. Looking in the direction of the voice, they saw a tall man wearing a mottled green and brown cloak, holding a bow. He seemed to appear out of nowhere; he hadn't been standing there a minute ago. He tied up Herbert with a length of rope. He pulled out a knife from a scabbard at his hip, and action that caused Aubrey to panic, until he started talking to her. She didn't know what he was saying, but his words were soothing, and she calmed down. After a few minutes, Louis and Aubrey were rubbing their wrists while the man pulled the arrow from their attackers leg and binding the wound. Satisfied the bandages would hold, he let out a whistle, and a small shaggy horse trotted over to his side.

Turning to face Louis, he said, "Sorry about ignoring you for the last few minutes, are you two alright?"

Not understanding, Louis simply stared at him, confused. Then Aubrey replied, "We not harmed. Thank you."

"Well, that's good news. I've been tracking this man for about a week now, he's been causing quite a bit of trouble over in Aralu-" realizing he wasn't in Araluen anymore, he switched to Gallican. "Désolé, I am from Araluen. Could you tell me the next town?" His Gallican wasn't the best, but it was enough to get his meaning across.

"Yes, it's this way," she replyed, pointing down the road, "we are going there, it's our home. Would you like to come with us?"

"Yes, Thank you. My name is Gilan."

* * *

They arrived in town a little after dark. When they got to the inn, Claire rushed over to her daughter, smothering her in a giant bear hug. "Oh, I was so worried! Why didn't you get in yesterday, what happened? I was about to send a search party! Oh, I'm so glad you're home safe and sound!"

"Mother, mother, I'm all right. The weather was bad, so we went a little slower. We're fine." After greeting Louis and giving him the toned down version of Aubrey's treatment, she ushered them over to a table.

"Sit, sit. I have soup cooking, it's almost done. You two must be starving." Then she walked back into the kitchen. A moment later, Lacey walked back out with a pitcher of water and three glasses. It was then that Gilan walked through the door. He walked up to the bar counter, looking for an employee. Seeing Claire was still in the kitchen, Lacey went behind the counter, inquiring in Gallican, "May I help you?"

"Yes. I need a, a, a room." replyed Gilan, struggling with some of the words.

Answering in Araluen after recognising his accent, she said, "We have one available, would you like it?"

"Yes, please, madam. Also, I have a man in the barn with my horse, he's my hostage."

"Okay, but may I ask, why?"

"I'm from Araluen, and the man has stolen some things. I tracked him down and arrested him, but I don't want to camp in a storm, so I came here."

Nodding her head, she yelled out something too fast for him to understand back to the kitchen, and then heard an angry reply from it. Turning toward him, she said, "No one will mess with him. The stable boy knows he's there now and to leave him alone."

"Thank you." Then he ordered some soup and coffee.

"Just out of curiosity," inquired Lacey, "You didn't happen to see those two on the road, did you?"

Looking in the direction she was pointing in, he frowned and said, "I sure did. In fact, the man I arrested had them tied up when I did."

Frowning, she called out "Louis, Aubrey, venez ici!" They came over, confused at first, then Aubrey saw Gilan and knew what Lacey wanted. "What does this man mean when he said you were attacked?"

"We were, but it's not our fault!"

"Oh, and how so? Louis, how did it happen?"

"Oh, well, uh, we were eating lunch, and a man snuck up on us. He-"

"He pulled out a sword, a bid one!" Interupted Aubrey. "So Louis picked up his sword and tried to fight him off. The man was just too strong. He hit poor Louis over the head with his sword!"

"Yes, that's what happened. Then, when the man ws about to, uh, hurt Aubrey, I hit his legs out from under him! Gilan hit him with an arrow, and then set us free."

Sensing that Louis' part of the story was a little more than slighty overblown, but that she had mostly the truth, she let it go. Claire brought out some soup to them, and they all dug in. The two teenagers talking with Claire, and Lacey with Gilan.

They were only a few minutes into the meal when they heard some heavy footsteps coming down a the staircase that led up to the rooms. A big man stumbled out into the dining room, saying "Lacey, my head hurts again." Lacey sprang up and rushed over to help him.

Strangely, so did Gilan.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, there really is no excuse for basically abandoning this story, but I got bored, and sort of forgot about it. But anyways, here is the next chapter, and hopefully it will pick up the pace soon!**

"I don't want to take the medicine, its gross!" exclaimed Duncan.

"The medicine will make you feel better. If you take it now without any more fuss, I'll let you have some candy." Lacey said patiently. She was more than used to dealing with children who didn't want to take their medications. It wasn't any different with this fully grown man acting like a small child.

After thinking it through, Duncan replied, "Okay! I want the peppermint kind!"

Lacey nodded and handed him the beaker. Admittedly, the concoction for pain did taste rather awful, but she couldn't add anything to it to make it taste any better. She discovered children will consume nearly anything for some candy. She walked over the desk she was storing various herbs, oils, and powders and grabbed a stick of candy. Before giving it to Duncan, however, she checked to make sure he didn't simply dump it out on the floor. He had done it before. Seeing the floor was spotless, she handed it to him.

"Thanks!" Duncan said.

"You're welcome. Now, please don't come looking for me again, you could hurt yourself."

"Okay, I won't." he replied, his tone implying he would anyway. Lacey let it be, however. There was no point in arguing. "I'll be back in a few hours to check on you. Just try to get some sleep, please." The man merely nodded, he was too busy sucking on the candy.

Lacey walked out of the room, motioning for Gilan to follow. He had helped her get the massive man back up the flight of stairs and had been watching her care for him. When he saw how the king was acting, though, he was dumbfounded. All he could do was stare. The man he had served and respected was now acting like a small child. He followed Lacey out of the room. When they reached the stairs, he turned to her and said, "Okay, what the heck happened to him?"

Lacey, thought for a second, than said, "I don't really know. A week ago, some of the children came running in here saying they found a dead man out in the forest. When I went out there to see what was going on, I found a party of a little more than thirty men, all dead. In the center of it all, was him. He was has barely breathing. He had a massive cut to his head and chest, and another on his arm. There was also a cut very close to the vein in his neck. He must have been laying there like that for over a day by the time I came to him."

Gilan was frowning at this. He couldn't believe that everyone except the king had been killed. "But why does he act the way he does? Why can't he remember anything?"

"Head wounds are very uncertain. He should have been dead; it's a miracle he's still alive."

"Well, is there anything you can do? Surely there must be something to help him regain his memory?"

"I am doing everything I can. But he can only heal so fast. There is a potion that helps with lost memory, but it would conflict with the one for pain he's on." Lacey replied.

"Well, he has to get back to Araluen, he can't stay here."

"There is no way I'm allowing you to go tromping off back to Araluen with him. He's in no condition to travel." Lacey replied firmly.

"But he can't stay here!" Gilan replied.

"Why not?"

"Because he needs proper care!"

"You don't think I'm doing a good enough job?" Lacey said back.

Realizing what he said, he quickly apologised. "No, no, that's not what I mean. I just mean there will be more healers, eith more things available."

"I know what you mean. I can assure you I'm not like most small town healers, I don't believe waving smoking herbs over someone while chanting will help heal them. But you have to understand, he's still recovering from nearly fatal wounds. In fact, most men would have died."

"But there will also be people out looking for him. Kings don't jsut dissapear, you know." Gilan said back.

She paused for a moment, thinking. Than she said, "How about this. When he gets well enough, we can take him back to Araluen. In the mean time, we'll send out a messenger telling whoever that he's here, and recovering from an attack. Will that work?"

Gilan nodded, the plan sounded like a good one. "Yes, that will work. But one thing, does this town actually have a reliable messenger? I'm not saying you're all a bunch of hooligans, but if whoever attacked him in the first place finds out about the mesenger, will they be able to defend themselves?"

"Don't worry, I know some people who will be able to deliver it safely." she replied.

"Okay, when can they leave?"

"Now."

**Okay, what do you think? Good? Bad? Makes you want to kill yourself? Don't be afraid to tell me what you think! And don't worry, I'll post the next chapter faster than this one.**


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